NO PROBLEM OF first importance in international relations it less understood in the United States than the economic divergence between the United States and Great Britain. The sudden and unilateral cancellation of Lend-Lease by President Truman has led to a hasty attempt by foreign correspondents and commentators to explain the British situation. But most of these efforts are incomplete and have not sunk far into the American consciousness.

The first use of the atomic bomb against a hostile population has, in spite of its stunning success as a weapon of war, brought forth expressions of guilt and horror from many parts of the world. These emotions have been felt even in the victorious nations, and even by persons who are glad on the whole that it was employed to bring the war to a quick end. They are probably less strong in the United States than in England, which has suffered the actual experience of indiscriminate devastation from the air. It is indeed difficult to justify use of an extreme form of the kind of weapon which hit

As the political campaign goes into its final days, the best informed observers appear to believe that President Roosevelt will win by a substantial margin. Our readers will hardly need to be told that the editors of The New Republic will view such an outcome with satisfaction. There are faults to find with the Roosevelt administration, both in its foreign policy and on the domestic front; we have never hesitated to point out what seemed to us to be failings, and we expect to continue to do so in the future.